Stephanie's New Stepfamily
by Elizabeth8289
Summary: The Meanswell family are still having trouble with the loss of Ruth. On Stephanie's birthday, Robbie's mother, Linda, came to Lazy Town for a birthday and remembered Howard & Milford when she went to school with Howard. He was surprised to see her again.
1. Stephanie's First Day at School

Lazy Town belongs to Magnus Scheving

----

It is Labor Day nearly a month after Stephanie Meanswell's mother, Ruth, died in a car crash. The nine year old is starting Lazy Town Elementary School, which is about ten minutes by bus.

Her older sister, eighteen-year-old Sally and her dad, Howard, moved to Lazy Town shortly after the loss of Ruth. Sally already started college in College Town which was only a fifteen minute ride from the Lazy Town train station. All three live with Howard's brother, Milford, who is the mayor of Lazy Town. It was dinnertime and they were all eating dinner. Stephanie had just finished her meal.

"Daddy, may I leave the table?" asked Stephanie.

"Yes, of course, sunflower," replied Howard. Stephanie got up and headed to her room with her cat, Smokey, following her.

"She's having a tough time," said Uncle Milford.

"I know. We all miss Ruth," said Howard.

"It just makes it worse that school is starting soon. Mom always put us on the bus and made our lunches." Sally heaved a sigh as she got up to clear the table.

----

The next day, it was the first day of school and Stephanie was a bit nervous and excited at the same time. She walked over to her bus stop to meet her friends. After school, she was going to Annabelle Sanders' home for her piano lessons. The auditions for the piano recital, which was next week, and she needed to practice.

"Who is my new teacher?" asked the nine-year-old as she and her friends approached Lazy Town Elementary School after the bus dropped them off just outside the front doors.

"You, Monique, Pixel, and I are going to have Mrs. Gomez together for our fourth grade teacher," replied Trixie.

"Awesome," smiled Stephanie.

"I know I can't wait," said Trixie.

"Me either," said Pixel. The group walked into the classroom and took their seats.

"I see we have two new students to the school this year, Stephanie Meanswell and Monique Walkins. Welcome and welcome to the fourth grade, everyone, I'm Mrs. Gomez," said Mrs. Gomez. "I'm going to start handing out the daily planning for homework or project assignments."

"It's hard to believe you're turning ten years old in two weeks, Stephanie," whispered Trixie.

"I know," agreed Stephanie in her low voice.

"I'll also hand out all your textbooks when I call your name in alphabetical order," announced the teacher.

"You may talk to your neighbor while you wait as long as you whisper so you can hear your name when it's being called."

The task didn't take long to do and the class went on until lunch.

----

At lunch, Stephanie saw her friend, Patrick Gomes, Jr. and went to him.

"Hi, Patrick," said Stephanie as she sat next to him.

"Oh, hi, Stephanie," smiled her friend.

"How you and the girls are doing?" asked the nine-year-old. Patrick has two older sisters, Alicia and Tricia who are nine-year-old twins. Their parents recently got divorced, but they were able to see their dad a lot while living part time with their mom.

"We're starting to get used to it," said Patrick, referring to his parents' divorce.

"That's good to hear," said Stephanie. "My birthday is coming in two weeks."

"How old are you going to be?" asked Patrick.

"Ten," replied Stephanie.

"You're starting to be an old lady," teased Patrick as they laughed.

To Be Continued…


	2. The Scrapbook

After lunch, Mrs. Gomez gave the students a writing assignment in which they had to write an essay about a person who they admired. Everyone was supposed to start it in class and then finish it at home for homework.

"This is a contest. A winner will be announced after I have read them all. You may start your essay now," said Mrs. Gomez. The teacher smiled, as this would be a good way to learn what kind of writers they were.

Stephanie knew exactly who she was going to write about, her mother, and her thesis statement seemed to be a perfect beginning to describe her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to add her mother's death at the end though. At the end of the school day, she was almost done. When the bus dropped off Stephanie and her friends, she took off for her piano lessons to get prepared for the recital.

At Anna's, Stephanie started to practice for next week.

"How are you feeling about next Wednesday?" asked Anna.

"I'm excited and a bit nervous at the same time," replied the nine-year-old.

"That's good and I know you could do it. And if you do make it, you'd be able to perform for the quarterfinals, which will take place in November," said Anna.

"I hope so since this would be my first piano recital audition," said Stephanie.

"That's true," agreed the piano teacher with a smile.

After the piano lessons, back at Uncle Milford's, Stephanie continued the essay. She finished it, leaving out her mother's death, and checked for any spelling errors. It seemed to be the perfect essay to pass in.

At dinner, her father dropped news about who was coming to her tenth birthday party.

"Linda Rotten? Robbie's mother?" asked Stephanie.

"Yes, she went to school with me and your uncle. She was in my grade," said Howard. Stephanie groaned at that and left the table.

"This is going to be a problem since Robbie keeps trying to get rid of Sportacus," said the mayor.

"I know," agreed Howard.

"Anyway, we could do something to keep Ruth in our memories," said Uncle Milford changing the subject.

"That's a nice idea. Let's make a scrapbook," said Howard. "I could find the pictures with the four of us."

"That sounds like a good idea. What about adding Ruth's family like her parents and siblings as well?" The mayor asked.

"I could do that, but I think they have her pictures in their albums," replied his brother.

"That's true," said Uncle Milford.

"We could do that this weekend," said Howard.

"I'll help you out," said Uncle Milford.

"Thank you, I'll see if Sally and Stephanie want to help out, too," said Howard who was smiling.

After dinner, Uncle Milford went to see his niece.

"Are you okay?" asked Uncle Milford.

"I guess so. But I still don't want Linda coming because of Robbie," said Stephanie.

"You'll like her when she comes to your party and we're not inviting Robbie," said her uncle.

"Good," said the nine-year-old.

"Your father had an idea you might like. You and Sally are going to help him to make a scrapbook with a bunch of pictures of you, Sally, and your parents," said Uncle Milford.

"Really?" asked Stephanie.

"Yes," said her uncle.

"Okay. I could do that," said Stephanie trying to smile a bit as she hugged him happily.

"When are we going to do it?" asked Stephanie.

"This weekend," replied the mayor. "I offered to help out."

"Sounds good," said the nine-year-old.

The next day, at school, Stephanie was the first one to pass in her essay. Everyone else passed his or hers in as well.

"The winning essay will be announced Monday. Also, we'll be having a spelling bee in class next Friday and the winner or winners will be in the school spelling bee," said the teacher.

"Wow," said Pixel.

"You have all this week and next week to study," said Mrs. Gomez. "You can use a dictionary to help you out."

After the piano lessons, Stephanie got some pictures with her and Ruth in them.

"If you want, you can make your own page for the scrapbook," said Howard.

"Really?" asked Stephanie.

"Yes," replied Howard.

"Awesome," said Stephanie as she went to hug him very happy.

"I decided we can make our own with construction paper. Our pages can be our favorite colors or any other colors you want to choose," continued her dad.

"Swell," said Stephanie. "I like the idea, Daddy."

"We can add Ruth's page, too," said Howard.

"Sounds good," agreed Stephanie.

On Friday, Stephanie picked out pink construction paper and started her own pages. She had two pages: one in the front and one on the other side. Howard and Sally did their pages the following day with the help from Uncle Milford.

"Stephanie already did hers last night," said the mayor.

"Already?" asked Sally.

"She showed it to me. She did a nice job," said Uncle Milford getting the page.

"Wow, she did a fine job on both sides," said Howard as Sally agreed.

TBC


	3. The Piano Recital and Spelling Bee

The next day, Stephanie is still excited about the spelling bee and the recital. In fact, they're a day apart from each other. Her recital would be first, and the class spelling bee. She still can't wait to see if she's an essay winner Monday. Then a week after that would be her tenth birthday! She can't wait for that the most. She wants to invite her friends including Sportacus. All she knows that she is _not_ inviting Robbie. He might ruin the party or something. She's glad his sister would be coming though when she learned Lila Rose is very nice. The nine-year-old would be meeting Lila and her husband, Mark & their four children; Mark, Jr., Leonard 'Leo', and Mary & Martha who are twins.

"When are you going end up studying for the spelling bee?" asked Howard.

"I have all next week. Besides, we're going to do some spelling work to help us prepare for that," replied Stephanie. "My friends are planning to pretend we're in the actual spelling bee and Sportacus is giving us the words each day."

"What a nice idea to study," said Howard.

"I know. I told them it would be after the piano lessons. My last day to practice is Monday since it's on Wednesday," said the nine-year-old.

"That's good," said her father.

"I know," agreed Stephanie.

A week later, Stephanie realized she's been forgetting all about her mother when she finished practicing for the recital and studying for the spelling bee. Plus, her essay was the winner. She was thrilled on that. On Wednesday, it was the day of the audtions. The nine-year-old was starting to get a bit nervous, but she knew she would do just fine. She wants to make her mother proud. She learned she made it to the quarter finals, which is on Saturday. Saturday flew by when the quarter finals was about to begin.

"Mother, this is for you," said Stephanie in her head.

She was told that she was going to play _The Star-Spangled Banner _for the opening. That's what she did and she was talented! She knew how to play it since Anna taught her on the last day of piano lessions. She was scheduled to play that and her two songs she's choosen to do in one hour or so. If she wins, she'd be in the semi finals. There would be three winners in two groups according to ages. Stephanie's age group is from ages six to ten and the other group is eleven to eighteen. They'll be doing from the youngest to the oldest.

An hour later, Stephanie played her two songs: one was _There is Always A Way _and a special song about Ruth or anyone who lost a loved one called _They'll Always be in Your Life_. She did a terrific job according to Anna. Two hours later, after the last piano player was done, it was time to be judged. When Stephanie learned she was one of the winners, she was thrilled!

"Wow," said the nine-year-old.

The semi round would be on her birthday.

"That'd be a nice birthday present," said Anna.

"I know. My birthday party is the day after," said Stephanie. "I can hardly wait."

"I bet," smiled her piano teacher. "We start practicing again on Monday."

"No problem," said Stephanie. "My next step is the spelling bee during class."

The next day, at school, it was time for the spelling bee. It was girls vs. boys.

"Like I said before, the winner or winners will be in the school spelling bee," said Mrs. Gomez. "Girls are up first. Stephanie, spell preparation."

"Preparation. P-r-e-p-a-r-a-t-i-o-n. Preparation," spelled Stephanie.

"That is correct," said Mrs. Gomez.

They kept going until the last person standing. Stephanie and Pixel were the only two standing.

"Congratulations, Stephanie and Pixel. You are now winners and would be in the school spelling bee," said the teacher.

"Oh, my gosh!" exclaimed Stephanie.

"The spelling bee is on October 13th at seven o'clock, so you both have the entire month to study," continued Mrs. Gomez.

A week flew by and before Stephanie knew it, it was her birthday _and _the second round of the recital! When she got up, no one was in the kitchen.

"Where is everyone?" asked the ten-year-old.

That was when her uncle, her father, and Sally came from the living room as they all shouted, "Happy Birthday, Stephanie!"

She turned around with a surprised look.

"Wow," said Stephanie.

"Dad made pancakes," said Sally.

"Swell. Thanks, Daddy," said Stephanie.

"And tonight, we'll go out for dinner," said Howard.

"But I can't. My piano recital's tonight, remember?" asked Stephanie.

"We know. We can do that before then," replied Howard.

"Oh, good," said Stephanie. "It's at six-thirty."

"We can go out for five. We can eat at the diner," said Uncle Milford.

"Sounds good enough to me," said Stephanie.

"It's so hard to believe you're already ten," said Howard. "And boy, you're getting taller than me."

When he measured her, she grew two inches taller.

"Before you know it, you'd be taller than me as well," said Uncle Milford.

The ten-year-old laughed at that. That night, after dinner, they went straight to the Lazy Town School where the recital would be taking place like Anna mentioned a week ago. Stephanie decided to do two songs again. She had permission to do either the same songs or choose two different songs. The first song was _Friendship _and the other one was about her family. Once again, she played the notes perfectly. She won first place again from her age group and a boy named Steven Pikes won first place from his age group, which was between eleven and eighteen. The final round was going to be about the week after the school spelling bee, which would be on October 20th.

The next day, it was a birthday party for Stephanie and had a fun time. She even gets to have a sleepover party. That's what she had. She met Linda Rotton along with Lila, Mark, and their children. They would be Stephanie's step nieces and nephews someday. None of them like Robbie.

A month went by on October 10th and Stephanie was studying for her school spelling bee, which would be in a few days. Stephanie and Pixel helped each other since they were the only two winners from Mrs. Gomez' class. Three days later, it was the big night for Stephanie and Pixel! They both can't wait until tonight. Stephanie found out Patrick was going to be in it, too. She was glad for that. The theme would be based on school subjects.

That night, at the school, at seven, the spelling bee. Mrs. Gomez, Mr. Lionel Young, and Ms. Lynn Mudge were the judges. Stephanie was up first.

"Stephanie, your word is geography," said Mrs. Gomez.

"Geography. G-e-o-g-r-a-p-h-y. Geography," spelled Stephanie.

"Correct," said Mr. Young.

An hour went by. Stephanie was the only on the stage since Pixel missed a word a few minutes ago. Patrick was already gone.

"Stephanie, if you spell this word right, you're the winner," said Ms. Mudge. "Spell education."

"Education," said Stephanie trying to think and then smiled. "E-d-u-c-a-t-i-o-n. Education."

"That is correct. Congratulations. You're the tonight's spelling bee champion," said Mr. Young.

"Oh, my goodness," said Stephanie.

Mr. Young came with the blue ribbon and a spelling bee champion certificate.

"Thank you very much," smiled the ten-year-old.

A week later on October 20th, it was the night of the final round of the piano recital. She decided to do two songs again. One would _There is Always A Way_ and the other would be _Friendship_. Two hours later, Stephanie learned she was first place again and Steve was the other winner. They both won grand prize from their age groups. Stephanie was thrilled even more!


	4. Robbie as Mayor Lazy

The next day, Stephanie was hanging out with her friends after school.

"I heard that your father might ask Linda out when he's ready to be in love again," said Trixie.

"He's what?" asked Stephanie.

"Yes, he might wait for a few months," said Pixel.

The ten-year-old groaned at that.

"I hope that won't happen. I don't want Robbie to be my stepbrother," said Stephanie.

"I don't blame you," said Trixie.

"Yeah," the others agreed.

"At least Linda is nice to you though. You got to give her credit for that," said Ziggy.

"True. I like her children, too," said Stephanie.

"That Robbie better not be rotten to my friend," said Stingy.

"Excuse me. Whose friend?" asked Trixie.

"Alright then, our friend," said Stingy.

"That's more like it," said Trixie.

That night, at dinner, Stephanie said, "How could you do that to me? Might date Linda in a few months."

"Yes, I'd be ready to be in love by then," said Howard. "I do still miss your mother though. I'm sure she would want me to be happy again."

"But I do not want Robbie as my stepbrother," said Stephanie.

"Linda will make sure he won't be tough on you," said Howard. "That's what she told me."

"He better not," said Stephanie. "I like Linda and all, but things could get worse if you're both ready to get married. Do not invite him to the wedding."

"Linda doesn't plan to do so he won't be rotten to you," said her father.

"Good," said Stephanie. "If she does plan to invite him though, I will _not_ attend the wedding."

She went to her room and closed her door.

"I don't blame her for not wanting Robbie to be at the wedding in the future," said Uncle Milford.

"Me either," said Howard. "Linda will tell Robbie to be nice for now on."

"I doubt that would ever happen," said the mayor.

The next day, at school, Stephanie decided to pretend the news didn't happen so she can focus on her schoolwork and it worked. She was glad about that. After school, Stephanie was at home doing her homework.

"I'm sure you would have to used the idea of your father dating Linda," said Uncle Milford.

"I do not like the idea, Uncle Milford," said Stephanie. "You know I can't stand Robbie. He might try even harder to get rid of Sportacus."

"Don't you worry about a thing," said the mayor.

Stephanie took her homework to her room not wanting to hear about it. After she did her homework, she went out to be with her friends.

"Where's Sportacus?" asked Stephanie.

"He's coming," said Trixie.

"Good," said the ten-year-old. "At least he'd protect me from Robbie."

"I know," agreed Trixie.

Then, a guy came around.

"Hello," said a guy.

"Who are you?" asked the kids.

"I'm Mayor Lazy," said the mayor. "We can vote to be active or lazy."

"No thanks," said Stephanie.

"Yeah," said the others.

That was when Sportacus came from his blimp.

"What's going on?" asked Sportacus.

"Mayor Lazy, that's what's going on. He wants us to vote about being active or lazy," replied Stingy.

"We already said no way," added Stephanie.

Later, Mayor Lazy made them vote. Green was for lazy and blue was for active. They all voted for active and then, they learned lazy was the winner.

Stephanie got so mad that she took off.

"Stephanie," said Sportacus looking for her and sat with her. "Are you alright?"

"How can the lazy be a winner? We didn't vote for that. I bet Mayor Lazy cheated," said Stephanie.

"I know, something is strange," said Sportacus.

Then, she realized who Mayor Lazy really was.

"I bet you any money that might be Robbie," said Stephanie.

"There's one way to find out," said the superhero.

They did and couldn't find the box.

"We think Robbie was pretending to be Mayor Lazy," said Stephanie.

"You might be right about that," said Trixie.

They found out it was Robbie and knew active was a winner all along.

"How dare you?" asked the ten-year-old in her angry voice. "You can not stop us being active."

"Yeah," agreed the rest.

"We'll see about that," said Robbie.

But Stephanie walked away before he could say that. The others left as well.

"I wonder if he knew about my dad and his mom might date soon," whispered Stephanie.

"Who knows?" asked Trixie.

"I have an idea: let's don't mention that to him otherwise he could get even worse," said Pixel.

"Pixel's right," said Stingy.

"That's a good idea to do," agreed Stephanie. "I do pray that Linda did not tell Robbie."

"Me too," said Stingy.


	5. The Worst Thanksgiving Day

A month later, it was almost Thanksgiving vacation. Linda was spending the week with the Meanswell family starting the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Her kids would be coming, too. Stephanie could hardly wait for that.

Then, she found out Howard invited Robbie.

"Invite Robbie? How can you do that to me!" exclaimed the ten-year-old in her shocked tone.

"Linda wanted me to, but she will make sure he won't bother you," said Howard.

"I don't want him at all," said Stephanie.

"Why can't you give a try?" asked Howard.

"No way," said Stephanie. "Why can't you respect about my feelings first?"

She took off to her room and slammed the door. Mayor Meanswell knew Stephanie was right.

"Stephanie's right, respect her wishes about not having Robbie here. I'm sure Linda would understand," said the mayor.

"Well, I'll have to speak to Linda," said Howard. "Robbie already accepted the invitation."

"You should've checked with Stephanie first. She would still say no," said Mayor Meanswell.

The next day, Stephanie told her friends and they were stunned.

"Your father invited that devil?" asked Trixie.

"Without asking you first?" asked Stingy.

"Yeah," replied Stephanie.

"I'm glad you told your father off by respecting your feelings," said Pixel.

"I know," agreed Stephanie. "I would rather have Linda and her kids, not Robbie."

"I don't blame you," said Pixel.

"Yeah," said Ziggy.

Later, Howard told Stephanie that he did talk to Linda and she didn't blame Stephanie for not wanting Robbie. She was glad about that.

A few weeks later, it was a few days before the Thanksgiving Recess. Stephanie can not wait for it. But she was sad that this would be the first Thanksgiving without her mother though. She did made it just fine during her birthday and recital pretending her mom was with her. They always have it alone with Sally. She would be with the family on Wednesday afternoon after her final class. She did not know what was going on, but would she support Stephanie for not wanting Robbie being added to the family? That's what Stephanie hopes.

On Wednesday, it was half-day and when the bell rang and when Stephanie got home, she noticed Sally was there and went to her.

"Sally!" exclaimed Stephanie.

"Hi," said Sally.

"Linda is coming with her kids for Thanksgiving dinner," said Stephanie.

"That's cool," said Sally.

"Linda and Daddy might decide to date someday when he's ready," said Stephanie.

"They are?" asked Sally.

"Yeah, but the thing is though Robbie could be our stepbrother and I don't want that," said Stephanie.

"I don't blame you," said Sally.

The next day, they noticed Robbie came with Linda and the kids.

"Uh-oh. Um, I thought Dad talked to Linda about not inviting Robbie," said Sally.

"That's what he told me," said Stephanie. "I bet he lied to me. He did say Linda didn't blame me for that."

That afternoon, when lunch was ready, Robbie was already ruined everything and Linda told him to behave or go back home. Later, he made a mess with everything.

"Since you made that mess, clean that up and go back home," said Linda. "I warned you."

Stephanie went to Howard angrily and said, "I can't believe you lied. I found out you didn't talk to Linda. This is the worst Thanksgiving ever."

She stormed to her room. Robbie did leave for home. Linda got mad at Howard for lying to Stephanie.

"Think before lying next time," said Linda. "My kids can pick up from you."

She left with her kids.

"Nice going, Dad," said Sally.

Stephanie did not talk to her father all weekend. She wished her mom would be alive, she'd know what to do.


End file.
